The Stories We Tell: Our Blog

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Spencer Ames, while in 6th grade at The School at Columbia University, led a book drive for Swaziland that enriched his life while enriching the lives of others. His story is inspiring for parents who are seeking a volunteer project for their family that builds compassion, a broadened worldview and leadership skills. His school is a K-8 school in New York City for children of Columbia University employees and those from the local community. With the cooperation of his school and friends nearby, he built a community of support to complete a book drive, gathering over 1,000 books for Encabeneni Primary School in Swaziland. In November 2014, Spencer spoke at TEDxYouth about how he grew from his experience with ALP. This blog is a transcript of his inspiring and heartfelt speech.

Congratulations to Amday and his fellow students on the completion of their first African library through the strength of their student organization Unite Africa. It can be a lot of work to complete one, but getting as many people as possible involved makes it much easier to collect the books and raise the funds. Learn how these college students are making a difference in their own communities and around the world.

Michelle Ramus, a Peace Corps Volunteer in South Africa (SA), has been waging an active campaign on Twitter to gather books in the US to populate a soon-to-be-launched library in SA, in the village where she is serving. It will be one of ALP's first library projects in that country. We discovered her on Twitter and asked her to share her story in a guest blog for ALP. Read more about the preparations taking place in South Africa and how she involved her hometown in Indiana to donate books for children in her village.

Missionary Expediters (MX) is a vital link in our supply chain. MX specializes in helping humanitarian aid organizations and missionaries get their shipments to difficult to reach areas of the world. Read a behind-the scenes account of what happens to the ALP books while in the care of MX!